A/N: Procrastination at its finest here folks

OoOoOoO

The word sent chills up his spine. As the whispers flew (they were actually being quite loud about it, but Aizawa was stuffed into his sleeping bag where everything was muted) he sank in further, hoping to go unnoticed from his place on the faculty lounge couch.

Before he became a teacher, he usually got out of the routine karaoke night just by being underground. Even on nights he was off, he could easily pass the invitation and stay home, claiming he had to patrol.

It wasn't like he hated the event itself-in fact as a teenager he was quite good at letting rip a number or two. No, it was the loud drunkenness that usually followed, perpetuated by Mic and exacerbated by Midnight. The latter could hold her alcohol pretty well, but she always ended up flirting with the bartender. On more than one occasion, her lyrics had gotten a bit too sexual.

And Mic...well he was just loud (especially so after the graduation incident where he broke his mouthpiece, a story that he loudly retells every time they go out like this).

Since most of them were huge fans of the activity, staff karaoke nights were a regular part of the semester.

In his sleeping bag, he was safe. No one dared disturb the sleeping beast. A brief check of his watch showed he had only a few minutes to stall until he got to leave for the day. If he booked it, he could leave without receiving the invitation, and the subsequent begging by Mic.

With heart pounding, he waited and waited, until...sweet relief. The bell rang.

He sat upright, unzipped his sleeping bag, and made his way out of the room.

Yamada was nowhere to be found. Aizawa traipsed his way down to the elevator.

He was almost there, when a distinct voice echoed down the hall. "Eraaaassseeeerrrrrr!"

Shit. Several students looked his way and were surprised at the tense reaction on his face.

Shit shit shit shit.

Yamada hadn't seen him yet. He ducked down a hallway that was nearly empty and was faced with another dilemma.

"Oh, hey Aizawa!"

Dammit. Toshinori was smiling at him, hands stuffed in his pockets.

All he had was two hallways till he reached the stairs….two hallways and he could avoid karaoke night. This wasn't good. All-Might threatened to blow his plan of escape.

"ERAAAAASERRRRR!?"

"Shit-"

"Everything ok?"

Aizawa had to think fast. He grabbed Toshinori by the collar and shoved him into the next closest room, momentarily thankful that it happened to be a supply closet.

A broom fell. He caught it just before it hit the ground and simultaneously shut the door behind them.

"What are you-"

"Shut up-" He hissed, hands pressed against the door. It was dark, and only the light from the hallway gave them any sense of the room around them.

Toshinori seemed to have given up any questions. Either he was questioning the man's sanity, or he understood there was a very particular reason why Aizawa was acting this way.

"Hmm...He disappeared." Mic was right outside the door.

"Are you hiding?" Toshinori mouthed.

"Hm?"

Aizawa panicked, clasping a hand over Toshi's mouth and unintentionally pushing him even further into the wall.

For a split second, there was complete silence. Only the kick of the air conditioning broke it. The smell of cleaning supplies and paper pervaded their noses.

Finally, Yamada's heavy boots clicked down the hall and eventually disappeared.

Aizawa flung open the door, grateful for the fresh air and light. His heart still raced with his near-karaoke experience. Toshi stumbled after him, coughing into a handkerchief.

"Wanna tell me why you tried to suffocate me?"

"Karaoke."

"Wait," Toshi looked at him exasperatedly,"you did all of that just to avoid karaoke night?"

"Well, yeah." Aizawa's voice dropped with sarcasm. "I don't normally shove coworkers into closets."

"You know," Toshinori's voice dipped as he returned his handkerchief to his pocket, "you could just use me as an excuse. I wasn't planning on going, either."

Aizawa momentarily went quiet, a frown plastered on his face. What did he mean by that?

He never got the chance to ask. Yamada must have heard the pair talking, because he turned back down the hall. Damn his hearing.

"ERASERHEAAAAAD!" he sauntered towards them. Toshi winced and one hand came up to cover his ears. Realizing he had probably been too loud, Yamada dialed it down a level. "It's karaoke niiiiight! You should come!"

Aizawa prepared himself mentally for the onslaught of 'pleases" from his friend, but they never came.

"Actually, I had asked Aizawa to help me move some furniture this afternoon." Toshinori lied smoothly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry to steal him from you."

"Sorry Mic." Aizawa grumbled, still surprised by the fact that Toshinori was so easily covering for him. He masked it by sinking into his scarf, which passed him off as looking regretful.

"You're gonna' miss a good time, buddy!" Mic shrugged, walking between them. "Oh well-"

Aizawa watched his retreating back, one eyebrow raised. It was too easy...typically Mic begged him to come along until he literally had to just walk away.

"Uh-" He really was at a loss, both curious and grateful and slightly weirded out.

Toshinori just chuckled. "Hope you don't mind."

"No, I uh-thank you."

"I actually do need help, if you're around. If not, though, I can just bother someone else."

"I-" Aizawa hesitated, but only for a brief moment. The man had just saved him from a night of drunken karaoke. "Sure."

"Cool." He moved past him, waving over one shoulder. "See you later then."

Aizawa frowned as he departed. What just happened?